Sunday, March 17, 2013

Hail, Vic Caesar!

I posted this Friday, it got 22 views...and disappeared. I hope to hell it was just some technical glitch...

Now I have to remember what I wrote a few days ago. Umm...I can't. (Start over.)Basically, this is one of the best lounge albums I've ever heard, and I've heard plenty. The man sings songs you thought you never liked (e.g.: "Born Free") with over-the-top gusto and finger-poppin' cool, he tackles both the usual suspects and such utterly unlikely choices as "Lucy in The Sky With Diamonds" (?!) and, as this interview proves, is as larger-than-life as his music. The voice! The enthusiasm! The swingin' big band! Everything you want in a lounge record. And Dick Van Dyke wrote the liner notes."Vic Caesar Sings"

11 comments:

Private-press lounge records often have some really great tracks, even if most of the album consists of the same ol' standards that have been done many times, and better, by the big-room acts. (I compiled the pick of the litter for a comp I did a while back called "I'll Take Las Vegas.") "Vic Caesar Sings," however, is a ridiculously good time straight thru. He does incredibly upbeat, absurdly enthusiastic versions of songs you thought you never wanted to hear again, like "Norwegian Wood," or (gak) "Born Free" and makes them great. Or songs that you never thought you'd hear come out of the mouth of a cat who worked the West Coast casino circuit (inc., of course, Caesar's Palace) like "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds."

The man himself was equally amazing. This interview with him is a must-read, telling how a staunch Democrat came to write a song for Richard Nixon, among other primo show-biz anecdotes (Sinatra grabbing his ass, Elvis, Marilyn, Hugh Hefner...) And Dick Van Dyke wrote the album's liner notes. Why isn't this guy a legend?!"

1. Googled; "Vic Caesar Music for Maniacs"2. Look through the search results for differences in text from the most recent draft. (As in the case for well-known blogs, automated blogs tend to reiterate other people's work, such as in your case.)3. Copy the found text and add it to your original search query and search again.4. Usually the new results will bring up the fingerprint of the old page. Then click on 'cache' next to the title.5. Profit and ring-a-ding-ding.

Glad you're diggin' it! Yeah, I think that's the article I linked to. Unfortunately, there's no date on the album. i can only make the obvious guess that it's sometime after '67 cuz of the "Sgt Pepper" covers.

Had the pleasure of playing drums for Vic at the LeBistro in Chicago in the mid 60's. He was singing and playing vibes. George Gaffney on piano and Sam Scafidi on bass. Had a ball. Talened and fun and crazy guy, Great memories. Tony Vitale